Film-shifting mechanism.



P. F. SPERY.

FILM SHIFTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR.'27. 1914.

Patented June 20, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

H I i; E 5? P. F. SPERY.

FILM SHIFTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 21. 1914.

Jmenfur J Patented June 20, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Mfi

P. F. SPERM- FILM SHIFTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 21. 1914.

35' Patented June 20,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- P. F. SPERY.

FILM SHIFTlNG MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 27, l9l4.

Patented June 20,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- W/A /V nirnn s'rarns rannr OFFME.

FHILIVIOREF. SPERY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN CINEMATO-GRAPH COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

FILM-SHIFTING MECHANISM.

Application filed April 27, 1914.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PHILMORE F. SPERY, acitizen of the United States, residing in Chicago, county of Cook, andState of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inF ilm-Shifting Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to moving picture apparatus, and more particularlyto film shifting, devices therewith.

The objectsof the invention are principally to provide a film-shiftingdevice capable of rapid operationunaccompanied by objectionablevibration and noise, and which will permit of operating the film ineither direction as desired; to provide a film shifting device durablein construction, positive and certain in operation, and which is notlikely to get out of order and fail to act at critical times. Otherobjects will appear hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Ihave illustrated a preferred embodiment of these improvements and inFigures 1 and2 thereof have shown their'application to apparatus fortaking pictures upon a film. The invention is not limited, however, tosuch use, as it is equally applicable to film-printing apparatus and toprojection apparatus, although possibly more suitable for use on thepicture taking and printing machines than to the projection machines inthe form of the device illustrated herewith. In its broadest aspect theinvention in a mechanical movement capable of application to variousother arts than that of moving picture apparatus.

In these drawings Fig. 1 is a face view of a moving picture camera withmy present improvements in operative position thereon, the front of thecamera being removed; Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the front end of thecamera, as on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged verticalsection of the film-shifting mechanism on the line.33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4is a similar sectional view on the line 44 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a viewsimilar to that of Fig. 3, but showing the parts in another operativeposition; Fig. 6 is an enlarged horizontal section on the line 6-6 ofFig. 1; Fig. .7 is a similarly enlarged vertical section on the line 77of Fig. 1; Fig. 8 isan enlarged Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 20, 1916.

Serial No. 834,603.

perspective of a block-like guiding and supporting element shown in mostof the figures; F 1g. 9 1s a similar perspectlve of a 'reciprocatorymounting and film-engaging elements thereon; Fig. 10 is a similar per- 7spective of one of the two racks and guides shown, for instance, in Fig.7; and Fig. 11 is 'an enlarged section showing one of the pinion-likeelements and its mounting.

On a suitable support, for instan'cethe wall 15, of the camera shown,standards 16 and 17 are secured providing bearings for the driving shaft18. By reference to Fig. 2 is will be seen that this driving shaft isrotated by means of the crank 19 and the train of gears 20', 21, 22 and23, the last mentioned being upon the shaft 18. This driving shaft hasalso rigidly secured thereon the wheel-like element 24, on which, spacedfrom the axis, is a crank pin 25. The side of this wheel-like elementopposite the crank pin is provided with a cam track 26. A block-likesupport 27 is rigidly secured to the camera wall 15, as by the screws27, which support is provided with a guide-way 28, in which guide way ispositioned for reciprocatory movement the connecting element 29. It willbe observed that the guide-way 28 is of considerable relative length,which is advantageous in preventing the canting of the element 29therein. -A pin or friction roller 30 is mounted upon the connectingelement 29 for travel in the cam track 26, from 3 which arrangement itwill be apparent that port and guide '27.

Two rack elements 31 and 32 are secured,

as by screws 33, to the wall 15, which elements respectively have a rack34 cut in the a pair of face of a tongue-like projection 35 consti Atuting a guide. These guides and racks preferably face each other asillustrated, and between them is positioned a block-like support 36having a guide-way 37 at each end thereof adapted to interfit with theguides 35. In each end of this element 36 is positioned a toothedelement 38, suitably in the general form of a pinion, but notnecessarily provided with teeth all around, as these toothed elementsare required to rock through but a comparatively small are. As wellillustrated in Fig. 7, the toothed portion of the segmental elements 38are in operative'association vwith the racks 34 respectively. Thesepinion-like or segmental gears 38 are suitably provided with axialextensions on each side thereof, one exten- 5 sion or stud axle 39projecting into a suitablerecess 40 as a bearing in the element 36 (Fig.11), the two gears 38 being suitably held in operative position in theelement 36 by the overlapping ends of the plate 4i, as 1. shown bydotted lines-in Fig. 5. d On the stud shafts 42, of the pinion-likeelements 38 are secured the crank arms 43 and 44 respectively, thesecrank arm's being oppositely directed, as illustrated, and connectedtogether by a link 45 pivotally mounted upon pins 46 on the crank armsrespectively. The reciprocating connecting piece 29 has its end 29provided with aslotted opening 29? occupied by thepin 46 substantiallymid-' way on the link 45 between the two pivots 46. It will nowbeunderstood that when the connecting piece 29 is reciprocated by. the camelement the crank arms 43 and 44 will be rockedcausing the pinion-likeelements 38 to creep in one direction and the other upon the racks 34,in'each instance carrying with them the block-like carrier element 36.Owing to the arrangement of the crank arms 43 and 44- such creeplngmovement will be the same .at each end of the element 36, the provisionof. a pinionand-rack device at each end preventing this carrier 36 fromcanting on its guides 35. Foreach revolution of the cam element 24 35,the element 29 will be moved once forward and once backward, thus movingthe block 36 once in each of its reoiprocatory directions.

' .iTurning now to the opposite side of the device from that justconsidered, namely o *theside shown in Fig. 4, it will be seen that thesliding support or mounting 50 is arranged totravel in a'guide-way 51(see Fig.

8) in the block element 36. This guide-way 51 may be formed in aseparate piece of metal 51 secured as by screws 5-1 tothe,

other portion of the *block-like structure to which, in its entirety, asshown by Fig. ,8, I 1

have applied the reference numeral 36. The

50 element 50 (Fig. 9) may suitablyhave a projection 50" upon which ispivoted the pitman 52, this pitman being also pivoted on the crank pin25. On the reciprocatory sup- \port 50 are secured preferably two filmlen- 55 gaging elements 53, which may suitably be. in the form of pinshaving their free ends 53? formed with substantially fiat upper andlower film engaging faces, the free ends of the-elements-53 being sospaced apart and so formedthat they respectively enter thelateralpunctures or openings 55 in the film 56." The element 50 plainly makesone complete/recip'rocation with each revolution of r a the drivingelement 24, a portion of which plainly constitutes a crank on the shaft18.

the position shown in full lines in Fig. 4,

the flat-faced ends 53 of the film engaging elements 53 being projectedinto oppositely disposed apertures 55 in the film 56. The pins 53 aremaintained in such engagement with the film by the concentric portion 26of the cam track until the mounting 50 has traveled to the other end ofits stroke, at

which time owing to the change in direction "ofthe cam track, as at 26,the block 36 is caused to move away from the film, carrying the block 50with it and consequently retracting the film-engaging elements from thefilm. While the pin 30 traveling in the cam track is in the concentricposition 26, as shown in Figv 3, the film-engaging elements aremaintained away from the film,

and this condition exists until the pitman 52 has driven thefilm-engaging elements back totheir first position ready to beginanother cycle of operations.

An important feature of this'invention resides in the fact that themovement of the film-engaging elements to and from the film is veryslight. Ihave found that an in-andout movement of the carriers 50 ofthreesixteenths of an inch is considerably more than is actuallynecessary, the only requirement beingthat these pin-like elements shallhave in-and-out movement suflicient for their suitable engagement withthe film to shift the same and to. clear the film on the returnlongitudinal movement. amount of in-and-out movement makes forsteadiness of operation, freedom from vibration' and rapidity ofmovement of the shifting device. A further advantage is in the fact thatthe film-engagin pins move to and from the film substantia ly at rightangles to its course of travel at the picture taking-portion thereof,and in the fact that opposed surfaces of the ends 53 of the pins Thissmall 1 53 are formed for suitable moving engagement withthe film on twosides of the. openings-55 of the film, these opposed film-engagingsurfaces being preferably substantially parallel with each other wherethe openings 55 are substantially rectangular. these openings 55 begiven a different shape, theends 53 may be changed accordin ly.

Should The device is thus adapted to move the lm in either longitudinaldirection by merely reversing tliedirection of movement of the ,,crank19. It lSPQlIltGd out that the" movement pf the film-engaging portion ofeither of the 1plns 53, 1s mthe direction of a substantla 1y rectangularparallelogram having t wo relatively long sides and two relatively shortends," and that whether the crank 19 is turned in direct or reversedirection this parallelogram movement is the same, except, of course,that the order of its description is reversed.

It is understood, of course, that the film must be at rest while theexposure is being made, which means that the film must be movedintermittently, and yet quite rapidly. It is also pointed out that anexceedingly slight variation in the longitudinal movement of the filmwhile the pictures are successively being. made results in relativelygreat variation in the pictures projected upon the screen. Heretoforeconsiderable difficulty has been experienced with filmshifting devicesin which the partshave con-, siderable in-and-out movement and are soconstructed that various forces of operation cause an unequal movementof the By the present means the film is moved a certain predeterminedfixed distance in each cvcle of operations, the film-engaging elementsbeing moved positively in and out without appreciable variation from onetime to another. While the pins 53 are drawing the film from thebeginning to "the end of a single movement these pins do not moverelative to the film and thus save it from wear and bending, whichavoids enlargement of the openings 55 of the'film and which would causebad results in the projection Work.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of theseimprovements, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious changes and modifications may be made therefrom withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. Reference should be had,therefore, to the appended claims to determine the scope of theinvention herein set forth, and all such changes and modificationsarecontemplated by me as fall within the scope of these claims.

I claim:

1. In a film-shifting device for motion picture apparatus, thecombination of a film-engaging element, means for moving said filmengaging element back and forth in spaced apart paths, and means formoving said film engaging element in and out from one path into theother thereof whereby the film is alternately engaged' thereby andreleased therefrom, said second men tioned means including a-toothedrack, a gear-like element intermeshing with. said rack, and means forrocking said gear-like element.

2. In a film-shifting device for motion picture apparatus, thecombination of a filmengaging element adapted to enter an opening in amovably mounted film, and means for moving said film-engaging element ina substantially rectangular path of travel, said lift means including apinion-and-rack device adapted to impart motion to said film-engagingdevice in two opposite directions, namely, toward and from such film,and a crank arm adapted to impart motion thereto in two oppositedirections substantially at right angles to said first mentioneddirections.

3. In a film-shifting device, the combination of a film-engaging elementand means for moving the same in and out for engaging and releasing thefilm and also back and forth to shift the lilm, said means including afilm-engaging element support and pinionand-rack means for moving saidsupport in and out, and a mounting for said film-engaging element andmeans for moving said mounting back and forth 011 said support.

4. In moving picture apparatus, the combination of means for causing afilm having lateral punctures to travel lengthwise, a pin-likefilm-engaging element adapted to enter one of such punctures, saidfilm-engaging element being mounted for travel back and forth, onedirection of such travel being in the longitudinal direction of travelof a portion of such film, means for so, moving said film-engagingelement back and forth, and means for moving said film-engaging elementinto one of such apertures at one end ofsaid elements course of traveland for retracting the same therefrom at the other end thereof, saidlast mentioned means including a toothed element operatively associatedwith said film-engaging element, a relatively fixed rack engaged by saidtoothed element, and means for rocking said toothed element alternatelyin one direction and the other.

5. In moving picture apparatus, the combination of means for mounting afilm for longitudinal travel with a portion thereof, substantially flat,a film-engaging element mounted to travel back and forth, one directionof said movement being that "of the longitudinal travel of suchsubstantially flat portion of such film, the other movement being in thereverse direction, means for so moving said element back and forth, andmeans for alternately moving said element into and out of engagementwith said film, said last mentioned means including a relatively fixedrack, a pinion-like toothed element operatively connected with saidfilmengaging element and in engagement with said rack, and means forrocking said toothed element alternately in opposite directions, saidlast mentioned means including a cam.

6. In moving picture apparatus, the combination of means for mounting afilm for longitudinal travel, a film-engaging element, a mounting onwhich said element is secured, said mounting being adapted to havereciprocatory movement, one direction of said reciprocatory movementbeing that of the'travel of a portion of such film, means for soreciprocating said mounting,- means operatively, associated with saidmount ng for moving the same alternately toward and from such filmwhereby said film-engaging element alternately engages and is disengagedfrom such film, said means including asegmental toothed element, a rackhaving-teeth thereon engaged by said segmental toothed element, andmeans for rocking said toothed element. I

7. In moving picture apparatus having means for mounting a laterallypunctured film to travel with a portion thereof substantially fiat, thecombination of .a 'pin-.

like element mounted to have a film-engaging portionthereof travel backand forth in. spaced apart paths, one of said paths substantiallycoinciding with the path of movement of such substantially flat portionof such film, means for so moving said pinlike elementfmeans foralternately moving said engaging portion of said pin-like element intoand out of the plane of movement of said film whereby such engagingportion enters a puncture of such film and is retracted therefrom, saidlast mentioned means tively fixed with respect to said pin-like element,a curved toothed element mounted to'intermesh with and to travel on saidI rack and to convey its own bodily movement to said pin-like element,and means for rocking said toothed element alternately in oppositedirections.

8. In moving picture apparatus, the combination of a'driving shafthaving a driving crank and a cam element thereon, a

pair of racks spaced apart rigidly mounted upon asuitable supporttherefor, a movable carrier element between said racks, portions of saidracks respectivelyconstituting guides for said carrier element, a pairof segmental gears mounted to Jrock in said carrier element, said gearsrespectively being in engagement with said racks respectively, a crankon each of said gears, a link operatively connecting said gear cranks, aconnecting device operatively in association with said cam element andwith said link whereby a back and forth movement is communicated to saidlink thereby simultaneously rocking said gears, the arrangement of saidgear cranks, connecting device and cam element being such that saidcarrier element is reciprocated in said guides by the rotation of'saidcam element, a pair of pin-likefilm-engaging elements mounted on asupport, said support being mounted to reciprocate upon said carrier,and a connection between said driving crank and said last, mentionedreciprocating support.

9, The combination with. apparatus having means for mounting a film totravel with a portion thereof substantially fiat, of a film-shiftingdevice comprising in combination a pin-like film-engaging elementmounted for back and forth film-shifting movement and for iIi-and-outmovement, a driving shaft, a crank arm and acam on .said shaft, a rackon said apparatus relatively fixed with respect to saidpin-likeelement', a segmental gear operativelyassociated with said pin-likeelement and in engagement with said rack, and means oper-' ativelyconnecting said gear and said cam whereby rotation of the cam rocks thegear alternately in opposite directions, and moves said film engagingelement in and out and a suitable operative connection between saidpin-like element and said crank arm, whereby the revolution of saidcrank arm moves said pin-like element in the film-shifting direction. vincluding a rack on sald apparatus rela 10. In a film-shifting device,the combination of a pair of relatively fixed guides, a rack on each ofsaid guides, a movable element mounted for reciprocation in said guides,a pair of segmental .gears operatively mounted in said movable elementand in engagement with said racks respectively, crank-like means on eachsegmental gear, a link connecting said rank-like means together, thearrangement of said crank-like means and link being such that a move-'ment of said link adapted to cause one of said movable element, andmeans for reciprocating saidfilm-engaging element.

PHILMORE F. SPERY. Witnesses:

A. .ARMoUn, M. A. Kmmn.

